Scott Smith was educated at Dartmouth College and Columbia University. He is the author of the bestselling novel, A Simple Plan. He lives in New York.
Bloodcurdlingly horrific ... It's the contract between the familiar and the unspeakable that makes this book so harrowing. * New York Times * A tour de force of terror, a novel that seduces, shocks and dares you to keep reading. There's a timeless fable at work here, one that prompts thoughts of Heart of Darkness * Washington Post * It's been more than a decade since Smith's impressive debut, A Simple Plan. The wait has been worth it, with this tense, dense oppressive thriller taking the reader into new dimensions of fear ... Every time you think the book has hit a high in terror, it somehow gets more unbearable. * Guardian * The suspense novel of the year. This is compulsive reading. Scott Smith sets out to frighten and he succeeds brilliantly with this harrowing psychological chiller. * Sunday Telegraph * Smith intends to scare the bejabbers out of you, and succeeds .... Does for Mexican vacations what Jaws did for New England beaches in 1975. * Stephen King *